Zurich — ABB is doubling down its effort to prove Swedish activist shareholder Cevian Capital was wrong. After defying pressure from the investor to spin off its power grids division, the Swiss industrial company is now refining a plan to make it more profitable. Higher-margin services already make up about 15% of sales, and this proportion will be raised to about a third in the coming years, according to division head Claudio Facchin. Growth will come through bolt-on acquisitions and internal development. "If you look at the way we should shape our portfolio, we definitely need to focus more on the whole digital and software space," he said. The maker of transformers and high-voltage equipment for utilities will expand its offerings in more profitable services such as upgrading and maintaining equipment. ABB is reshaping power grids in a bid to show the division is better off as part of the bigger company. The engineering firm’s second-largest investor, Cevian, called for a breakup...
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